A/HRC/20/L.9
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: Limited
28 June 2012
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Twentieth session
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Argentina*, Belarus*, Bolivia (Plurinational State of)*, Cuba, Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea*, Russian Federation, Serbia*, Syrian Arab Republic*, Venezuela
(Bolivarian Republic of)*: draft resolution
20/…
Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality
The Human Rights Council,
Guided by the purposes, principles and provisions of the Charter of the United
Nations,
Guided also by article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, according
to which everyone has the right to a nationality and no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of
his or her nationality,
Reaffirming Human Rights Council resolutions 7/10 of 27 March 2008, 10/13 of 26
March 2009 and 13/2 of 24 March 2010, as well as all previous resolutions adopted by the
Commission on Human Rights, on the issue of human rights and the arbitrary deprivation
of nationality,
Reaffirming also Human Rights Council resolution 19/9 of 22 March 2012, in which
the Council took into consideration the fact that persons without birth registration may be
vulnerable to statelessness and associated lack of protection,
Recognizing the authority of States to establish laws governing the acquisition,
renunciation or loss of nationality in accordance with international law, and noting that the
issue of statelessness is already under consideration by the General Assembly within the
broad issue of State succession,
Noting the provisions of international human rights instruments and international
instruments on statelessness and nationality recognizing the right to acquire, change or
retain nationality or prohibiting arbitrary deprivation of nationality, inter alia, article 5,
paragraph (d) (iii), of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination, article 24, paragraph 3 of the International Covenant on Civil and
*
GE.12-14618
Non-Member State of the Human Rights Council.
A/HRC/20/L.9
Political Rights, articles 7 and 8 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, articles 1 to 3
of the Convention on the Nationality of Married Women, article 9 of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, article 18 of the Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Convention on the Reduction of
Statelessness and the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, as well as
relevant regional instruments,
Noting also general recommendation No. 30 (2004) of the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination,
Recalling that persons arbitrarily deprived of nationality are protected by
international human rights and refugee law, as well as by instruments on statelessness,
including, with respect to State parties, the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless
Persons and the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the Protocol thereto,
Stressing that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and
interrelated and that the international community must treat human rights globally in a fair
and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis,
Recalling General Assembly resolution 66/133 of 19 December 2011, in which, inter
alia, the Assembly urged the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
to continue its work with regard to identifying stateless persons, preventing and reducing
statelessness and protecting stateless persons,
Mindful of the endorsement by the General Assembly, in its resolution 41/70 of
3 December 1986, of the call upon all States to promote human rights and fundamental
freedoms and to refrain from denying those to individuals in their populations because of
nationality, ethnicity, race, religion or language,
Recalling General Assembly resolutions on the issue of the nationality of natural
persons in relation to the succession of States, in particular resolutions 55/153 of 12
December 2000, 59/34 of 2 December 2004, 63/118 of 11 December 2008 and 66/92 of 9
December 2011, in which the Assembly invited States to take into account the provisions of
the articles on nationality of natural persons in relation to the succession of States prepared
by the International Law Commission in dealing with issues of nationality of natural
persons in relation to the succession of States,
Recognizing that arbitrary deprivation of nationality disproportionately affects
persons belonging to minorities, and recalling the work done by the Independent Expert on
minority issues on the subject of the right to nationality,
Expressing its deep concern at the arbitrary deprivation of persons or groups of
persons of their nationality, especially on discriminatory grounds such as race, colour, sex,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or
other status,
Recalling that arbitrarily depriving a person of his or her nationality may lead to
statelessness and, in this regard, expressing concern at various forms of discrimination
against stateless persons that may violate the obligations of States under international
human rights law,
Emphasizing that the human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons whose
nationality may be affected by State succession must be fully respected,
1.
Reaffirms that the right to a nationality of every human person is a
fundamental human right enshrined in, inter alia, the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights;
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2.
Reiterates that arbitrary deprivation of nationality, especially on
discriminatory grounds such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status is a violation of human
rights and fundamental freedoms;
3.
Also reiterates that the prevention and reduction of statelessness are primarily
the responsibility of States, in appropriate cooperation with the international community;
4.
Calls upon all States to refrain from taking discriminatory measures and from
enacting or maintaining legislation that would arbitrarily deprive persons of their
nationality on grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, property, birth or other status, especially if such measures and
legislation render a person stateless;
5.
Urges all States to adopt and implement nationality legislation with a view to
avoiding statelessness, consistent with the principles of international law, in particular by
preventing arbitrary deprivation of nationality and statelessness as a result of State
succession;
6.
Notes that the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms
of an individual might be impeded as a result of arbitrary deprivation of nationality, and
that such individuals are placed in a situation of increased vulnerability to human rights
violations;
7.
Expresses its concern that persons arbitrarily deprived of nationality may be
affected by poverty, social exclusion and limited legal capacity, which have an adverse
impact on their enjoyment of relevant civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights,
in particular in the areas of education, housing, employment, health and social security;
8.
Reaffirms that every child has the right to acquire a nationality, and
recognizes the special needs of children for protection against arbitrary deprivation of
nationality;
9.
Urges all States to prevent statelessness through legislative and other
measures aimed at ensuring that all children are registered immediately after birth and have
the right to acquire a nationality and that individuals do not become stateless thereafter;
10.
Calls upon States to observe minimum procedural standards in order to
ensure that decisions concerning the acquisition, deprivation or change of nationality do not
contain any element of arbitrariness and are subject to review, in conformity with their
international human rights obligations;
11.
Encourages States to grant their nationality to persons who had habitual
residence in their territory before it was affected by the succession of States, especially if
those persons would otherwise become stateless;
12.
Calls upon States to ensure access of persons arbitrarily deprived of their
nationality to effective remedies, including, but not limited to, restoration of nationality;
13.
Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General submitted in accordance with
Human Rights Council resolution 13/21 and the conclusions contained therein;
14.
Welcomes the intergovernmental event organized by the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on 7 December 2011 marking the sixtieth
anniversary of the Convention on the Status of Refugees and the fiftieth anniversary of the
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and pledges made by States at the said event
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A/HRC/19/43.
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in the field of the reduction of statelessness, prevention of statelessness and protection of
stateless persons;
15.
Encourages States to consider acceding to the Convention relating to the
Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction on Statelessness, if they
have not already done so;
16.
Welcomes the ongoing efforts made in the field of reduction of statelessness
and combating arbitrary deprivation of nationality by different United Nations bodies and
entities and human rights treaty bodies, and notes with appreciation in this regard the
guidance note of the Secretary-General entitled “The United Nations and Statelessness”,
and the guidelines on statelessness issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees;
17.
Urges relevant United Nations human rights mechanisms and appropriate
treaty bodies and encourages the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees to continue to collect information on the issue of human rights and arbitrary
deprivation of nationality from all relevant sources and to take account of such information,
together with any recommendations thereon, in their reports and activities conducted within
their respective mandates;
18.
Requests the Secretary-General to prepare a report on legislative and
administrative measures that may lead to the deprivation of nationality of individuals or
groups of individuals, paying particular attention to situations where persons affected may
be left stateless, to collect in this regard information from States, United Nations agencies
and other relevant stakeholders and to present the report to the Human Rights Council
before its twenty-fifth session;
19.
Decides to continue consideration of this issue in 2014 in accordance with its
programme of work.
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